


oh, such a pretty girl (oh, such a pretty boy)

by orphan_account



Series: TUA Creators Bingo Contributions [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (a singular mention), (regarding assumptions about five), (very vague), Canon Non-Binary Character, Family, Family Fluff, Gender Identity, Gender Roles, Genderqueer Character, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Interviews, LGBTQ Themes, Makeover, Makeup, News Media, No Incest, Non-Binary Klaus Hargreeves, One Shot, Queer Themes, Short One Shot, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Teenagers, Underage Drinking, all of the gender-related issues are only vaguely referenced, klaus is still written with he/him pronouns though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23756053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Klaus beams at her, leaning in to stare, close enough that she can vaguely smell dad’s missing booze on his breath from last night. “Oh, wow, sis,” he muses quietly, eyes tracing every shimmering curve of her face, “talk about making an impression.”[ TUA Creators Bingo square fill: "Lipstick" ]
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Series: TUA Creators Bingo Contributions [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711327
Comments: 14
Kudos: 95





	oh, such a pretty girl (oh, such a pretty boy)

**Author's Note:**

> my first entry for the [TUA Creators Bingo project](https://tuacreatorsbingo.tumblr.com/)!!! i saw the prompt "lipstick" and went absolutely feral  
> i hope y'all love some quality gender content tm, bc i'm nonbinary on main and it's my fav thing to write lmao
> 
> title is (kinda) from the song "antichrist" by king no-one

Allison is twelve years old when she first wears makeup. That’s maybe a little young, by normal families’ standards - but the Hargreeves have never been a normal family, and they’re constantly on TV in live news broadcasts and interviews, and so Reginald sees no issue with allowing her to doll herself up a little for it.

Pretty girls get more attention, after all, and Allison does look so very pretty with her face painted.

The others don’t seem to think much of it - Luther politely informs her that she looks nice every single time, Diego raises an eyebrow the first time but quickly gets over it, Ben shoots her the same small smile as always, Vanya watches her with vague interest before turning back to her violin, Five mutters something about wasting time… and Klaus, well.

Klaus beams at her, leaning in to stare, close enough that she can vaguely smell dad’s missing booze on his breath from last night. “Oh, wow, sis,” he muses quietly, eyes tracing every shimmering curve of her face, “talk about making an impression.”

She laughs, smiles smally, shoves him gently upright before dad gets too pissy - and he never mentions it again, but she catches his eyes lingering every time they exit the Academy doors, and every time they line up for the reporters to snap photos, and every time they sit on stiff chairs in an interviewer’s office and wait for their cues.

* * *

Allison is thirteen years old when Five disappears. Father insists he’s simply being stubborn, that he’ll come sulking back with his tail between his legs once he gets too hungry or tired or bored - and yet it’s been a week, and then two, and Five is still missing, his bedroom door looking more and more like a coffin lid every time she looks at it.

Vanya seems quieter, if that’s possible. She still plays her violin, but it’s careful and gentle, only the songs Five liked - and she daren’t meet her siblings’ eyes, but when Allison manages to catch her gaze one day, all she sees is dripping guilt.

She reckons she’d see the same in her own eyes, if she let herself stare for long enough. They’d all let Five leave, after all.

She and Vanya have never been particularly close - her heart thuds painfully at the realisation that Five had been the only one of them who was any sort of close with Vanya - but Allison is nothing if not determined, so at their half-hour of free time, she stuffs her small makeup bag into her blazer pocket and taps at Vanya’s door until it opens.

“I’m bored,” she smiles, trying not to look too distressed, “and you don’t have any makeup of your own. I thought a makeover could be fun?”

Vanya stares with a blank kind of curiosity for half a minute, before lowering her gaze to the floor, shaking her head slowly. “I’m sorry,” her voice is quiet, monotone, “but I don’t think I’d like that right now.”

The door closes gently, Vanya retreating back into her room. Allison waits and stares until the sorrowful sound of her sister’s violin begins to flow through the halls, and then turns on her heels and slinks back to her room, a heavy sigh in her throat.

* * *

She’s been turned down by Vanya on three separate attempts by the time it happens.

“It”, of course, referring to the sight of Klaus perching on the end of her bed, perfectly still save for the bounce of his leg against her flooring. He looks up at her when she enters, offering a lazy smile when she squints at him, confused.

“A little birdy told me you were desperate to play makeover,” he admits with a shrug, “and I, of course, thought I’d take one for the team and play mannequin.”

She shakes her head, ready to dismiss him, tell him he doesn’t have to do this for her - but there’s something strange and urgent in his eyes that gives her pause. His stillness suddenly strikes her as odd, stiff and uncomfortable, too tense to match his lazy grin and casual demeanor - so she offers him a smile instead, retrieving her makeup bag from her pocket as she approaches.   
“Well,” she hums, sitting beside him, tugging at his jaw until he turns to look at her, face relaxed and eyes like those of a startled cat, “you’re not the ugliest choice, I suppose.”

She has to save the lipstick for last, after that, because he’s beaming so widely that she’d surely get some on his teeth - and, dare she say it, she reckons he looks pretty with his face all painted, too.

**Author's Note:**

> ayyy if u liked this pls consider [reblogging it on tumblr](https://miriocore.tumblr.com/post/615938967470276609/tua-creators-bingo-lipstick)!!


End file.
